Difference between F-8J and F-8E(FN) cockpit

[Guest DannyVM]

Hi Guy's,

I'm planning to buy some aftermarket stuff for my Crusader project, the Quickboost ejection seat i all ready have, and also the Zotz decals.

I've got the Trumpy 1/32 F-8J Crusader kit. This is the best kit to start from to build a French Crusader. Some differences are all ready clear to me, but i still have some questions about the French cockpit compared with the J variant. I'm planning to buy the Aires cockpit set, so i had my eyes onto the Aires Crusader detail set.

https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/AIRE2100

Should this be the correct choice, also regarding the afterburner ring difference??

Thank's allot for the help.

Regards

Danny

[HubertB]

Regarding the AB section, and I stand corrected by anyone with better memory or documentation than me, as I am citing this out of memory, it changed over the (very very very) long life span of the French « Crouzes ». So its variant (number of flame-holder pillars mainly) will depend on the era of the aircraft you are modelling...

Not too sure about the cockpit / dashboard, but some components are likely to be French-specific.

Hubert

[Guest DannyVM]

44 minutes ago, HubertB said:

Regarding the AB section, and I stand corrected by anyone with better memory or documentation than me, as I am citing this out of memory, it changed over the (very very very) long life span of the French « Crouzes ». So its variant (number of flame-holder pillars mainly) will depend on the era of the aircraft you are modelling...

Not too sure about the cockpit / dashboard, but some components are likely to be French-specific.

Hubert

Thank's Hubert for your fast answer.

First i made a mistake in mention i had the Berna decals, which is not. They are the Zotz decals sheet.

That said, i think it's a late (last) version of the French Crusader.

Regarding cockpit, i don't think you will see much difference once the fuselage is closed, 

Regards

Danny

[Ivan Ivanovich]

Your projected decal option is in fact depicting the ultimate and extensively upgraded version of the F-8E(FN) - the F-8P.

You'd have to replicate the t-shaped VHF antenna, the dorsal and ventral IFF antennae as well as the rather prominent vertical tail SHERLOC RWR and lateral VOR/ILS aerials from scratch. Not overly complex structures and fairly easy to replicate with strip styrene, rods, sprue, etc.

I've got to dig up a cockpit of an F-8P from one my hard drives. The overall layout differs slightly from the original one, mainly due to the GPS and SHERLOC related indicators and controls.

The redesigned afterburners started being retrofitted to Aéronavale Cruzes beginning from 1979.
The Aires set in your original post comprises the early AB design with the "five-spoke" flameholder. The revised design featured only four "spokes" and a new nozzle petal pattern.

Post-1979 F-8E(FN) / F-8P nozzle:

 

F-8P cockpit pics to follow...

[Ivan Ivanovich]

Addendum:

As mentioned earlier, the Aires Detail Set comes with the early afterburner/nozzle installation. Available separately under Cat.Nr. 2094
In order to build a post-1979 Aéronavale Crouze, you'd need the later, revised instalation which is also available from Aires: Cat.Nr. 2127

 

Cockpit:
The ejection seat (Martin Baker MK F7) from the Aires set is good as is for a French Navy F-8P. One of the measures carried out during the "Prolongé" upgrade was replacing the original MK F5(F) with an MK F7(F) seat.

F-8P instrument panel:
(only highlighting the most visible F-8P upgrade features - a fairly different animal when compared with an F-8E/J instrument panel)
The LHS/RHS

 

By purchasing the "big" Aires detail set, you'll end up, technically speaking, with an incorrect afterburner/nozzle assembly and a cockpit that has evolved significantly from the original F-8J layout towards the ultimate F-8P configuration. Purchasing another (for a P) correct nozzle/afterburner set will increase your bill accordingly. So I'd say it's perfectly up to make a decision as to how AMS-prone you are, what level of "accuracy" you may be striving for or how eager to get into some scratchbuilding here and there to "super" the baseline Aires cockpit. (Must have/Je m'en fous/Mon cul) You decide.

HTH

 

 

[Guest DannyVM]

Ivan, thank you very much for your help, this is what i needed. From here i can start, and as i am not a rivet counter, these changes are very visible so i will take your explanation into account for sure.

I will purchase the exhaust and cockpit separately in order to have the correct exhaust nozzle. For the cockpit i can go with the F-8J cockpit, as the F-8E cockpit will be more different then the J-version, i suppose 

I think i can't go wrong with the Aires wheel bay also?

The rest i will scratch to get a decent F-8P.

Regards

Danny

[Ivan Ivanovich]

You're welcome.

The wheel bays as well as the refueling probe are "no-brainers". Go with the F-8J cockpit/detail set.
The Aires F-8E/H cockpit has the early, oblique-mounted radar azimuth indicator plus the earlier MK F5 ejection seat - different animal.

[Peterpools]

Danny

Will be following ... going to be a gem

Peter

[Ivan Ivanovich]

@DannyVM

Completely off topic. But any progress on your MuG-23?

Purely motivational:

[Guest DannyVM]

On 12/18/2018 at 2:30 AM, Ivan Ivanovich said:

@DannyVM

Completely off topic. But any progress on your MuG-23?

Purely motivational:

Nope Ivan, still on the to-do shelf due to other interests at the moment.